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  • The Atlantic

    What Happened to Hong Kong?

    The city was once lauded for controlling the coronavirus’s spread. But this month, it recorded one of the highest death rates in the world.
    by Timothy McLaughlin Mar 17, 2022 7 minutes
    Source: Tyrone Siu / Reuters

    Two years on from the start of the coronavirus pandemic, let me tell you what life is like in my Hong Kong neighborhood. Playgrounds are wrapped in red-and-white caution tape and barricaded with plastic fencing to keep children out, and the swings have been tossed over the crossbar to ensure that no illicit amusement takes place. The government’s disastrous public messaging about a possible citywide lockdown has led to widespread panic-buying, so gossip swapped while I’m out walking my dog focuses on which shops have restocked.

    All restaurants have to close at 6 p.m., and bars aren’t open at all. A restaurant down the street from my apartment now offers happy-hour deals starting at 10 a.m. Gyms, movie theaters, campsites, and beaches have been shut down entirely. If I want to take a walk on my own in a remote country park, I am legally required to wear a mask.

    This situation feels all the more shocking because in early 2020, Hong Kong was ahead of the COVID curve, not lagging behind it. As soon as news emerged of a still-mysterious virus, everyone here began wearing masks and adapted to

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